Minnesota's Joe Mauer has a solid shot of becoming the first overall pick in the draft, the first time since 1985 that a catcher would hold that distinction. Milwaukee selected B.J. Surhoff with the first pick that year. The lefthanded-hitting Mauer is solid defensively but his bat is clearly his best tool. He hits for both power and average. Unfortunately, the catching crop falls off dramatically after Mauer, with a strong likelihood that there won't be another catcher selected in the first round. The college crop is especially thin, with no catcher ranked in the top 100 overall. Oklahoma State's Ryan Budde, who missed almost the entire season with an injury, has a slight lead over Tampa's Mike Rabelo and Baylor's Kelly Shoppach.

The position has two of the draft's 10 best talents in John VanBenschoten and Casey Kotchman. But it loses some of its punch because most teams project VanBenschoten as a right fielder at the next level. His five-tool talent would be wasted at first base. The first-base crop could take a further hit if Billy Paganetti ends up in the outfield or takes himself out of the draft altogether because of his commitment to Stanford. Kotchman is a first baseman all the way and one of the most accomplished to come along in years, both at bat and in the field. The one thread that runs through the position is power. All 10 players listed below have above-average power potential.

Second base is normally a dead-end position at the amateur level, but the college ranks have one of the best collections of talent in memory. You need to look no further than Baton Rouge, La., where two guys named Mike both project to go in the first round--Mike Fontenot of Louisiana State and Michael Woods of Southern. Both are accomplished hitters, but limited defensively to second base. Even the draft's top-rated shortstop, Tennessee's Chris Burke, is more of a second baseman by trade, strengthening the position even further.

Scouts aren't convinced that any of the top tier of prospects will remain at third base down the road, which says more about their defense than their offense. Their bats will play, no matter what position they end up at. Mark Teixeira and Jake Gautreau may be the two best power-hitting prospects in college, while David Wright is one of the premier all-around hitters in high school. Brad Nelson, Taggert Bozied and Joey Metropoulos all have above-average power potential.

Scouts continue to lament the demise of the North American shortstop. This draft should add fuel to the argument that Latin America is the place to go for players with the actions desired in a modern-day shortstop. Every player on this list, with the exception of Bryan Bass, Michael Hollimon and Ryan Theriot, has been mentioned as possibly being better suited for another position. Chris Burke and Jayson Nix are viewed more as second basemen. Josh Burrus, Bobby Crosby and Bronson Sardinha are possible third basemen. And scouts like Matt Macri's arm strength so much that he has drawn equal interest as a pitcher.

South Carolina can take credit for having the best offensive (Rocoe Crosby) and defensive (Marcus McBeth) outfielders in the draft. Crosby is an intriguing two-sport star with the potential for above-average speed and power while also having NFL potential as a wide receiver. McBeth earns top grades for his arm strength and overall defensive skills, but his bat is suspect. Raw speed is always a desirable trait in center fielders and no one in the entire draft has more of it than Quan Cosby, a Texas football recruit and national-class sprinter.

The best corner outfield prospect in the draft is actually a first baseman--John VanBenschoten. He's a five-tool talent whose speed, power and arm strength are equal to the tools of the best players on this board. He is ideally suited for right field. All of the other corner outfield prospects have at least one tool that grades out below-average and prevents them from playing center field, the most demanding outfield position.

This position gets high marks for both quality and quantity. Scouts say they have never seen so many pitchers with fastballs at 93-94 mph, topped by the 101 mph heater recorded by Texan Colt Griffin, an overnight sensation. The cream of the crop is Mark Prior, possibly the best college pitcher produced in the draft era. The crop of righthanders is so deep that as many as 20 different names have been mentioned as possible first-rounders. With such a huge supply of talent at one position though, teams may purposely skip over a righthander with their first-round pick, knowing they can get a pitcher of near equal ability a round later.

There is no Mark Prior or anyone else of that magntitude in this group that is projected to go in the first 10 picks, but the crop of lefthanders is excellent by any standard. As many as 10 southpaws could be selected in the first 50 picks. Size isn't as much of an issue as it is with righthanders and three sub-six foot lefthanders--namely Matt Chico, Macay McBride and Jeremy Sowers--could be picked in the first round.